Bosons vs Fermions: Two Families of Particles

All fundamental particles fall into two families: bosons and fermions.
Fermions make up matter—these include quarks and leptons like electrons.
Bosons are force carriers—particles like photons, gluons, and the Higgs boson.
Fermions obey the Pauli Exclusion Principle, meaning no two can occupy the same state.
Bosons do not follow this rule, allowing them to pile into the same state.
This property of bosons enables phenomena like lasers and Bose–Einstein condensates.
Fermions have half-integer spin (½, 3/2…), while bosons have integer spin (0, 1, 2…).
The structure of atoms, chemistry, and matter itself relies on the rules of fermions.
The forces that bind and shape the universe are mediated by bosons.
Together, bosons and fermions form the two essential pillars of particle physics.